Unidentified object

[Pipe_Dream]

Originally Posted by phatdaddy

I don t understand using a 400,000 dollar sidewinder missile on a balloon.

Why not strafe with a machine gun for a more controlled descent. Looks like it would have made the retrieval easier

I guess bigger toys are more fun to play with

I heard that the first shot at it missed. I thought, really? Missed a balloon?

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by Pipe_Dream

I heard that the first shot at it missed. I thought, really? Missed a balloon?

Each missile costs $400,000. We shot down 3 UFO's plus one miss. That means we spent $1,600,000 to shoot down these objects, PLUS the cost of the F-22's fuel and the pilots pay.

It's now reported that one of the objects was a $12 balloon with a tracking device on it that was launched by a father-son group as a science project.

And I'm with Phat.... Why not shoot it down with bullets? Lots cheaper and a more controlled/slower fall.

.

[Pipe_Dream]

Originally Posted by Destroyer

Each missile costs $400,000. We shot down 3 UFO's plus one miss. That means we spent $1,600,000 to shoot down these objects, PLUS the cost of the F-22's fuel and the pilots pay.

It's now reported that one of the objects was a $12 balloon with a tracking device on it that was launched by a father-son group as a science project.

And I'm with Phat.... Why not shoot it down with bullets? Lots cheaper and a more controlled/slower fall.

.

Our government allowed the Chinese spy balloon to enter into our airspace in Alaska, fly over key installations in the lower 48 and finally shot it down after it was over the Atlantic, but hurried to shoot down these 3 other balloons. As you said, at tremendous cost. And we're supposed to believe that the people in charge know what they're doing?